PUBLIC PREPARATION

Public Preparation project is the public preparation phase for the upcoming Biennale of Young Artists in Tallinn in October 2007. Public Preparation is a series of lectures, presentations and discussions exploring the current practices of international networking and cooperation, available models for collaborative production and critical artistic/curatorial work in the field of contemporary art.

In its essence, Public Preparation is a space for experience, reflection and discussion. The project could be compared to a one-way street on which the traffic is moving in two directions: it is a sequence of informal get-togethers which at the same time constitutes the publicly visible preparation process of the Biennale as well as the course of preparing and educating the public for the Biennale. The fact that contemporary art is becoming more and more knowledge-based, requires a communication platform that serves for artists, curators and audiences all at once.

Public Preparation is more interested in initiating discussions and asking questions than in producing ultimate answers. For that reason, it may but does not necessarily have to end with a definable outcome. The biggest changes are expected to happen in people´s heads, and therefore, the potential results or nonresults of the project can only be highly subjective. First and foremost, Public Preparation is a method for recognizing, discussing and establishing intellectual and organizational connections. In that sense, it is a militant research project, less concerned with over-complicated theories but with concrete practices – never finished but always ready to shoot.

Upcoming projects

10.11 – 6.12.2007, Public Preparation will participate in the international Caucus held in Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, as part of the project Be[com]ing Dutch in the Age of Global Democracy (see www.becomingdutch.com). In February 2008, Public Preparation will organise a partner event for the Be[com]ing Dutch project in Tallinn – Translocal Express II, exploring the questions of migration and citizenship in contemporary art in Eastern Europe.